SV-274155r1120453: Amazon Linux 2023 must automatically lock the root account until the root account is released by an administrator when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur during a 15-minute time period. | Amazon Linux 2023 STIG SCAP Benchmark

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Assessment Title

Rule Text

Amazon Linux 2023 must automatically lock the root account until the root account is released by an administrator when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur during a 15-minute time period.

Description

Discussion Text

By limiting the number of failed logon attempts, the risk of unauthorized system access via user password guessing, otherwise known as brute-forcing, is reduced. Limits are imposed by locking the account.

How this relates to the STIG checklist: STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Not mappedCCI-002238

References

DPMS Target Amazon Linux 2023 DISA DPMS Target Amazon Linux 2023 5700

SCC Automation Reference

The reconstructed evaluation script behind this rule's OVAL check(s) — every module a compound check combines, with this rule's own concrete values and DISA's SCC tool's real per-module mechanism curated from static teardown of SCC releases.

#!/bin/bash
# Reconstructed from oval:mil.disa.stig.amzlx23os:def:274155
# Amazon Linux 2023 must automatically lock the root account until the root account is released by an administrator when three unsuccessful logon attempts occur during a 15-minute time period.
# Per-module read mechanism curated from static teardown of DISA's SCC tool
# (SCAP Compliance Checker) -- see the SCC Automation Reference above.

# check /etc/security/faillock.conf for the even_deny_root setting
# textfilecontent54_object (textfilecontent54_test)
test_1() {
  grep -Pq '^\s*even_deny_root\s*$' '/etc/security/faillock.conf' &>/dev/null
}

if test_1; then
  echo "PASS"
else
  echo "FAIL"
fi

Assessment Script Powered by AISandbox-executed

A standalone Shell script to assess this control automatically. Review before running it in your environment.

Syntax-checked and actually executed in an isolated sandbox (not the real system this checks) — confirmed to run without errors.

#!/bin/sh
# OVAL Definition: oval:mil.disa.stig.amzlx23os:def:274155

FILEPATH="/etc/security/faillock.conf"
PATTERN="^\\s*even_deny_root\\s*$"

if [ ! -f "$FILEPATH" ]; then
  echo "FAIL"
  exit 1
fi

if grep -q "$PATTERN" "$FILEPATH" && grep -c "$PATTERN" "$FILEPATH" -ge 1; then
  echo "PASS"
  exit 0
else
  echo "FAIL"
  exit 1
fi

Remediation

Configure Amazon Linux 2023 to lock out the "root" account after a number of incorrect login attempts using "pam_faillock.so", first enable the feature using the following command:
 
$ sudo authselect enable-feature with-faillock 

Then edit the "/etc/security/faillock.conf" file as follows:
 
add or uncomment the following line:
even_deny_root